What is ISP (Internet Service Providers)

History of ISP: – The internet was created in the early 1980s in the United States of America with the intention of connecting several research institutions as well as universities that participated in the government-sponsored research. This humble beginning of the internet marked the first time when the computers were interlinked and data sharing among the different computers in the network was possible.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, commercial internet emerged. The system that had been used to connect computers to the small network used by the US research institutions was implemented on a wider scale for the general public. At the forefront of this commercialization was the Internet Service Providers (ISP).

Internet service providers (ISP) are also referred to internet access providers. They provide their clients with access to the internet.

How the system of ISP works.

Internet service Provider Company employs various technologies to link their customers to the internet. Among the commonly used include dial-up systems, fiber-optic cables, and Wi-Fi usually for small businesses and personal users.

For business that demand high speeds and bandwidth, they employ other systems such Ethernet, metropolitan Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, just to mention a few

ISPs usually work by purchasing access to the wider internet from upstream ISPs. This gives them access to a vast amount of data that the network of servers owned by an upstream ISP company store. They subsequently sell this access to their clients in form of subscription fees.

However, there are IPS companies that give access to each other, thus enabling them to share information without charging each other. These are called Tier 1 ISP. Sharing reduces the running cost of each company. Sharing of the web content between different IPS companies means that the IPS companies do not have to purchase access to every data out there, which can is quite costly. They simply share the access they have as well as the data each company has on its servers.

Services Offered by Internet Service Providers

Internet service providers provide different types of services, including email services, web hosting services. All these services may not be provided by one company as there some IPS that specialize on doing a specific task and thereby provide specific services.

TYPES OF ISP (INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS)

1. Access providers

These are companies that provide access to the internet to homes and businesses at a fee. They link their clients to the internet and give them access to World Wide Web.

2. Mailbox providers

These are companies that engage in providing email services. They host email domains and act as email storage points. They also facilitate sending and receiving of emails. Good examples of such companies include Gmail and Yahoo mail.

3. Hosting ISPs

These companies engage in hosting services. They host email, websites, and other general hosting services. They also provide virtual servers and cloud services.

4. Free ISPs

These are internet service providers that do not charge for providing the internet. They are sometimes called free net. To make money they show advertisements, instead of charging service fees.

5. Wireless ISPs

These ISP companies provide internet services over a wireless network, for example, a network of Wi-Fi.